Laying Out the Welcome Mat
By Marie Collins
Visit my house and you’ll see what appear to be the stirrings of a typical large family.
Neighborhood kids abound. Balls are kicked, tossed and batted in the yard. The refrigerator door is in constant motion. School projects are in various stages of completion. Toys are scattered around.
But the truth is that our family is anything but typical. A mere two years ago, the house was quiet, tidy and childless. My family consisted of my husband, Ronnie, and me. Ronnie is a police officer for the Richmond County Board of Education, and I chair the Medical College of Georgia Department of Dental Hygiene, so our careers kept us busy.
Or so we thought. Our perspective has changed a bit since then.
Two years ago, we were overjoyed to welcome our son, Miles, into the world. So now our family was complete … right?
Not quite.
Last June, we added three nephews to our household. Quinn is 12, Tevin is 10 and Aaron is 9. My husband and I had been monitoring the children’s situation for the last few years and we grew increasingly concerned that their mother needed much more help than we could provide from a distance. We all agreed that the boys should move in with us.
Enlarging our household from two to six virtually overnight has brought no small set of challenges. But the rewards are even more plentiful.
As we complete the stages of gaining permanent legal custody of the boys, we are proud and thrilled to watch them blossom before our eyes. Prior to moving in with us, their lives had been characterized by chaos and instability, so my husband and I concentrated on providing the most loving and structured environment possible. We are firm but fair, flexible but consistent. The boys are clear on our rules and standards, and they have risen to the occasion beautifully. We spend lots of time together as a family, work closely with the boys’ teachers and help them cultivate friendships.
The transformation has been amazing. The boys are calm, cooperative, happy and healthy. Aarons’s teacher said she can’t believe he’s the same student who first arrived in her classroom last August. Tevin’s asthma symptoms have disappeared. Our house is the most popular hangout in the neighborhood, and our son basks in his cousins’ attention.
Don’t get me wrong: We have our share of problems and more than our share of hustle and bustle. But it’s nothing we can’t handle. We feel blessed to be “Aunt Ree” and “Uncle Ronnie” to three such strong and resilient boys and are privileged to help prepare them for manhood.
So no, our home isn’t really typical. But it definitely is a home. Just ask the people who live here.
| Medical College of Georgia Today welcomes submissions to the Reflections column of the magazine. Typed essays (approx. 750 words long) reflecting a professional or personal experience of a member of the MCG community should be submitted to: Christine Hurley Deriso, Editor, Medical College of Georgia, FI-1040, Augusta, GA 30912, (706) 721-2124 (phone), (706) 721-6397 (fax), cderiso@mcg.edu (e-mail). |